It's still winter!

The deer are getting hungry and brave this winter.  This picture was taken in early February.  There is a big round bale of hay in there that they are eyeing.  They ended up running away and not getting any, which is good, since I can't afford to feed them and the goats.  Although they do go into the pens and eat what the goats and horses don't clean up.
  We have more snow than this now.  Today was a beautiful sunny day in the high 40's, so that melted some of the over two feet of snow we have. 
  I've been busy working with the dehairing.  It's going pretty good.  There sure is some nice cashmere out there in this Country!   I am really enjoying this job!  Now that the sun is shining more, I can work a little longer and don't have to run the generator at all.  I can run the machine all afternoon on a sunny day, and the batteries stay fully charged.  This is good!  It was warm enough yesterday that I could actually turn off the heater in the dehairing room.  That was a first!  
   The snow is starting to melt, so the goats are in a mud bog again.  I am really going to re-configure all the goat pens this summer.  I'm also hiring a guy with a skid-steer and other equipment to thoroughly clean out the pens and make a really good drainage ditch so the sheltered area actually stays dry in wet weather.
  I've finally got started combing the goats.  For an older doe, Latte' sure has good fleece!  Zindy Lou who is two does, too.  I am trying to do at least two a day, plus the dehairing.  Thank heavens they don't all start shedding at once!
   Kidding will start next week!  Maggie is due on the 24th.  I only have three does pregnant this year.  The fewest kids born in years!  I wanted to see how the dehairing was going to be before I get lots of kids to play with and take up more of my time.  Astrid and Arianna are due in April.  Astrid got her head stuck in the fence in early February and got bashed pretty hard right in the side where the babies are by more than one goat.  Goats are mean to each other!   I was sure they died, but it seems that one is still alive.  I noticed the other day that Astrid is starting to get milk in her udder, and the pendulum is swinging again.  About three days after she got bashed, the pendulum wasn't swinging at all when I held it over her back, but last week it started up again.  So, I'm not sure what is going to happen!  It's never been wrong before, so we shall see.  I use a metal "S" hook tied to a string.  I learned about this years ago.  You hold it over the doe's back and if she's pregnant it will start swinging in a circle or back and forth, depending on the sex of the kid (or Kids) in there.  I don't know which is which, I haven't wrote it down when I check yet.  One of these days....
   Well, that's about it for now.  I'll try to update this a bit more often.  Happy Spring, it's got to be coming one of these days!